A breakdown of INEC’s report showed that about 71 per cent of the newly registered voters are youths. Of the 12.2 million newly registered voters, about 8.7 million are between the ages of 18 and 34 while about 2.4 million are between ages 35 and 49. Those between ages 50 and 69 are about 856, 017 while about 127, 541 are over 70.
The statistics also showed that more women registered during the latest CVR than men. While 6,224,866 are women, 6,074,078 are men.
Speaking at the post-election training audit for the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun in Abuja on Monday, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Board of The Electoral Institute, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, said youths and women constituted the majority of voters.
A political analyst, Dr Busari Dauda, said the new composition of registered voters could determine the winner of the presidential election.
He also said this was a signpost that youths were ready to stop recycling old leaders.
Dauda said, “It is not strange. I think we have people who have matured to 18 years and are ready to exercise their franchise. It portends a positive outcome for the country. It is also a signal that in the subsequent general elections, they would decide who they want as leaders in the country as well take over the affairs of the country at the national level and the recycling will stop and someone much younger will one day become the president.
Also in a chat with one of our correspondents, analyst Dare Atoye-Ariyo, who is also the Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, said the recently concluded Osun State election which led to defeat of an incumbent governor, is evidence that youths are now transforming their online enthusiasm to votes.
“And that’s exactly what we saw in the Osun State governorship elections, ahead of the 2023 elections, there is a possibility that a good number of the new people who have registered this time around are going to vote,” he said.
Atoye-Ariyo added that the fact that the newly registered voters were mostly youths signaled a reawakening.